U. S. D. A., B. E. Bui. 75, Tart IV. A., December 26, 1908. 



MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. 



THE RELATION OF THE ETIOLOGY (CAUSE) OF BEE DISEASES 

 TO THE TREATMENTS 



By G. F. White, Ph. D., 

 Expert in Bacteriology. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Bee keeping is not an industry which brings a fortune to a few, but 

 is one the profits of which add comfort to 700,000 homes in Amer- 

 ica. This industry, which is a pleasure and a profit to so many, is 

 beset with difficulties. One of the greatest obstacles encountered 

 in the successful pursuit of bee keeping is disease. There are a num- 

 ber of diseases which attack the honey bee. Those which cause the 

 greatest loss attack the brood. These diseases are known to the bee 

 keeper as American foul brood, European foul brood, and pickled 

 brood. Considerable loss is sustained also from paralysis and dys- 

 entery. Other disorders of less importance are sometimes encoun- 

 tered. If the apiarist is to treat these diseases effectively, he should 

 become as familiar as possible with their etiology. Therefore this 

 opportunity has been chosen to discuss the causes of bee diseases, as 

 far as they are known, and to emphasize the importance of such 

 knowledge in the treatment. 



The word " disease " is made up of two parts, " dis," referring to 

 a negative condition, and " ease," meaning a state of rest. By com- 

 bining the parts we have the very appropriate word meaning a nega- 

 tive state of rest. We are all familiar with health, which is the 

 state of rest. It is the condition which we experience when all the 

 organs of the bod}^ are, so to speak, in a state of equilibrium. Any 

 departure from this state of health is disease. You should remember 

 that disease is alike in nature in all the animal kingdom and differs 

 only in kind. 



To understand best the nature of disease we must study the causes 

 of disease. A number of factors may combine and be responsible 

 for a diseased condition. This group of factors is known as the 

 " etiology." Etiolog} 7 , then, means the causation of disease. Let us 

 further consider the etiology of disease and use bee diseases largely 

 as illustrations. 



°Read at tin* meeting Of the National Bee-Keepers 1 Association. Detroit, 

 Mich., October 14, 190S. 



33 



